The Hunt for an Ally
by The Bookmaster
Summary: A son of Hermes goes on a quest to find a Hundred Armed One, with a son of Ares, and a daughter of Apollo, and lemme tell you, some wacky things could happen! Set Pre Last of the Olympians.
1. A Short Introduction

I was really going to miss Camp Half Blood. I was going on my first quest ever in a few days, and I finally realized what I would be missing. The family feeling. I would be missing this most, because, I am a son of Hermes. There's

no lack of people in our cabin. Which you'll already know if you've read Percy's story. But, this isn't his story. It's mine. My name is Ralph Took, and the quest I'm on is not mine. It's, believe it or not, a son of Ares'. It is though,

pretty reasonable. I mean the fact that I'm a part of it too. The quest is to hunt a rogue Hecatoncheires, better known as Briares' brother Gyes. We will hunt him, and try to win him over to our side. If that fails, we will have to

kill him. Not my idea of a good trip into the outside world. I shrugged. Not my choice really. Chiron required that I go. I guess that mixing a son of Ares with a daughter of Apollo isn't a great thing to do. Not without a mediator. At

least I'm somewhat friendly with both of them. I don't know what the chemistry will be with all three of us though. Don't ask me how I managed to be a friend with a son of Ares, especially Garrett. I think that I saved his life.

I'm not sure though. It was a really weird day. And I've known Cassie since I came to camp. Working with her should be easy enough for me. Those two together though... That'll be interesting.

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Well, here comes the beginning. Stick with me to the end, it'll be worth it.


	2. An Odd Friend

I was going to Camp Half-Blood with him. We had met up in New Hampshire. I had been living in Maine, and my family got attacked by monsters. Just a Karkinos, a giant crab. Hercules killed him by stepping on it. I only had a little more difficulty. My mom explained about my dad being a god, and I immediately knew that I needed to go away. Just a gut feeling, I guess. My mom and step-dad wanted me to stay, but after the second monster attack, this time it was a hydra_._ I decided that I would leave whether my family wanted me to or not. So, my mom gave me a knife of celestial bronze, some money (drachmas and dollars), told me about Camp, and wished me luck. I made my way through half of Maine, and then stopped in New Hampshire. I had heard of a monster sighting... kinda. It was a rumor by someone who was able to see through the Mist. Based on my knowledge of Greek myth_s_, I figured out that it was probably the Calydonian Boar. A very bad thing. It had taken an entire group of hardcore heroes to take him out. It seemed that the first time it was sent to Earth, it was sent by Artemis for revenge for not getting tribute on time. A lot of innocent blood would be shed for no reason. And, I figured, half-bloods would flood to the scene. So, I went, hoping to meet up with some demigods and get an escort to camp. Unfortunately, when I found it, there were no half-bloods around. But, there was a scared looking 13 year old holding a stick who was cornered in an alleyway. I charged the thing (I'm very fast. I guess I get it from my dad being the messenger for the gods and all that stuff), grabbed out my knife, and half leapt, half climbed onto it's back. It was freakin' _massive_. It was three feet away from the guy and its tusks nearly touched him. I guess a long time ago a huntress killed him. From a good distance away, with a bow and arrow, all that jazz. I was taking it out with a ruler-sized knife, including the handle that accounted for about a third of it. I stabbed through one of its eyes, and then through the skull. Then, instead of it spurting out blood like I expected, it collapsed in on itself, turning into a golden dust. A lot of it. And, I fell on top of it, on my rear end. The burly kid who was still frozen in terror in front of me finally moved. "Thanks" he said, his voice almost cracking. It was very deep and rumbling. Kind of like thunder. I laughed, expecting him to add in the part about how that guy with the gun almost got him, or how that mastiff was _that close_... But no. "That massive boar almost crushed me. I owe you one." I was... taken aback to say the least. And, pleasantly surprised. "Yeah. Good thing I was here." And I posed heroically, holding my knife above me. He laughed. I'm good at making people do that. They say that I got that from my dad too. "My name's Ralph." the boy nodded and said, "My name's Garrett." "You going to Camp Half-Blood?" I asked him casually. He looked quizzically at me. "Camp Half Blood? Never heard of it. All I know is that my dad was some kind of Greek God. My mom didn't have the time to explain it real well. Monsters were flooding into the house so fast we could barely keep them out." I nodded, laughing. "No problem. I think I can explain." And so, I explained. About Camp Half-Blood, the Greek Gods, and everything else I knew. We grew to be fast friends. Mostly because we didn't know we were supposed to be anything else. We figured that we were both demigods, both being hunted by these weird beasts, and we both felt that this was a bond that was closer than brotherhood. Why? When someone (or things in our case) wants you dead, you tend to understand others in the same situation very well. Especially when you've got no idea what the heck you're doing.

I was twelve then. And, despite him being older and stronger than me, he let me lead. Garrett is good that way. He always knows how to delegate. He knows when someone else is more qualified than him. I was (and, honestly, still am) smarter than him, and a better planner. So, we managed to get food (mostly by my stealing some after we ran out of money), stay safe, and make it to Long Island. Our battle strategy was simple. He would bash the monster up with his bare fists, keep it distracted, while I sneaked up and stabbed it. We must have gone through about five monsters in just New York. That, in demigod terms, is relatively high. We finally made it to Camp. My mom had told me about the strawberry fields, so we followed those to Half-Blood Hill. And everyone was surprised to see us. Both of us looked really... Grungy. Our clothing was in tatters. I wore a coonskin style cap, left behind by one of the monsters. And, I held my knife hilt, the blade still in its sheath. I wasn't sure if I trusted this Camp Half-Blood. If the people there weren't friendly, I would be getting ready to fight. A centaur came up to us, scaring the crap out of both of us. He said in a majestic voice that sounded suspiciously like Sean Connery, "Hello. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. My name is Chiron. I am the camp counselor. I've got a lot to fill you two in on. Follow me." And, so we followed him to a white house that reminded me of those houses that plantation owners had in the South. An antebellum plantation type of house. But, of course, I guess since they stole their designs from the Greeks, I should have recognized this before pointing it out to Chiron, who lectured me the rest of the way down. I tuned out his one-sided debate with the skill of one who has mastered the art from many bored days of school. However, later I learned that Chiron was a teacher, and fully aware of the look of the student who is far, far away from the conversation. So, he started speaking random crap to me, much to the amusement of Garrett. I was focused on how awesome this camp was. I mean, the rock wall with lava! Come on! That's awesome! He finally said that he had discovered a cure to boredstudent-itis. I asked what it was, absently. He, of course said, "Saying random things to try to get someone's attention." I snapped back, realizing he had caught on a full ten minutes before-hand, and came up with a flattering remark not all that far from the truth. "The view of the lake is simply marvelous. I was just admiring it." The fact that there were a bunch of girls down there didn't need to be said. He laughed, and just beckoned us into the house. He told us about almost everything we already knew. Except the claiming. Both of us knew that we were the children of gods; we just didn't know which ones. So, he set us up in the Cabin that would become my home for a while, and Garrett's for a much shorter time. But this fact didn't end our friendship. We still hung out together whenever we could, and we became even better friends. Even his cabin mates ragging on him about it didn't stop him from being my friend. Partly because they stopped after he showed that he wouldn't stop, and that he would beat up anyone who tried to get him to. My cabin mates stopped after they realized how good I was at thievery, and pranks. They were even a little impressed that I had gotten a bodyguard. In fact, we even worked together in Capture the Flag sometimes, until Luke declared our cabins enemies again. And the short truce between our cabins was over. Back to enemies, except for Garrett and me. Even after Luke was revealed as a traitor, the Stolls kept up our rivalry. Sure, Garrett and I fought each other's siblings, but not each other, and if we did, we were never serious. So, that's how I met one of my two best friends.

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Alright, tell me if you like the layout of this chapter better. No spacing in between. The chapter looks fine on my computer, but hey. I'm not the reader. So, just pop up a review. Only takes a few seconds. And, about the quick ending, I gotta have cliffhangers. More fun for me! (insert smiley face here) And don't worry, they're going to begin the hunt soon, just setting up some background info.


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